3 dead in Glenview garbage truck crash

Video: Flowers at site of car accident

Glenview resident Kate Meszaros puts a bouquet of flowers on the site of a car accident that happened earlier in the afternoon in Glenview at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Harrison Street. (Posted October 15, 2013)

Glenview resident Kate Meszaros puts a bouquet of flowers on the site of a car accident that happened earlier in the afternoon in Glenview at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Harrison Street. (Posted October 15, 2013)

The garbage truck was traveling north on Harlem Avenue and ran over a car that was headed east on Harrison Street about 12:40 p.m., police said. Both vehicles caught fire, and video from the scene shows the car and the cab of the truck engulfed in flames before the fire was put out by Glenview firefighters.

Three people were dead in the vehicle following the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Causes of death may be determined following autopsies Wednesday.

The driver of the garbage truck was not injured, but a woman in the neighborhood who tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived was taken to the hospital for treatment, fire officials said.

Authorities have not issued charges or traffic citations as a result of the incident, according to police.

Michelle Schmalz, who lives near the accident site, tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, according to her husband, Frank Schmalz. Overcome with emotion but not physically injured, she was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge for treatment.

She has since returned home and is resting, her husband said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families,” Frank Schmalz said.

Kate Meszaros, who has lived in the area for 12 years, was returning from picking her children up from school when she heard a loud crash.

“I saw this car flipping over, and a ‘boom,’” she said.

She said witnesses could nothing to help because of the fire and the way the car was crushed beneath the truck. Meszaros returned later to put a bouquet of flowers at the site.

“It’s crazy to think that something like this would happen,” said Grace Mateian, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 30 years. “I drive here all the time.”

Glenview police arrested a Chicago man July 23 on a charge of felony financial institution fraud against Abt Electronics and a firm that handles credit for the Glenview appliance company, according to documents provided by the Cook County Circuit Court.

Glenview Plan Commission recommended approval Tuesday of an orthodontics office in retail space near The Glen and called for a review of zoning rules that currently ban such uses from areas zoned for limited business uses.